Bo Hickey, a 39-year-old Camp Verde resident, was the lone Verde Valley athlete May 9 to take two gold medals at the Special Olympics Summer Games in Phoenix.
The 6-foot, 5-inch Hickey, who is currently diagnosed with mild cognitive delay, threw the softball nearly 20 feet and ran the 50-meter dash in 10.65 seconds to take first in those competitions in west Phoenix, just a short drive away from where Hickey graduated high school in 1994 after moving from Camp Verde.
“I did track and Special Olympics all through school, and then I got a regular job in Phoenix,” said Hickey, who competed in the pentathlon as a Camp Verde High School sophomore. “I dropped it after high school for a couple of years.”
For the next 15 years, Hickey worked odd jobs around Phoenix and Silver City, N.M., including at a golf course, a slaughterhouse, a supermarket and the base exchange at Luke Air Force Base, before returning to volunteer at Camp Verde United Christian School.
For more photos and the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 10, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
